


when all was still

by terabient



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-20
Updated: 2016-12-20
Packaged: 2018-09-09 23:53:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8918482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terabient/pseuds/terabient
Summary: Finn and Kylo decorate a Christmas tree.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Badwrong_M1ZZ (M1zz)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/M1zz/gifts).



Finn paced back and forth in his apartment, waiting for the familiar buzz that meant someone was waiting for him outside. He had texted Kylo as soon as he’d gotten off of work at the coffee shop, but that had been over an hour ago, and he hadn’t heard anything from Kylo about tonight. He wondered if Kylo was going to blow him off again--it was something that had happened more often as of late. They had been dating for three months, but if anything Kylo was becoming more distant and closed off, avoiding both the coffee shop and Finn himself.

Finn quit pacing and leaned against the kitchen counter. The shopping bag of Christmas decorations he’d bought the day before took up most of the space there. Decorating the apartment had been a spur of the moment decision, made only a few nights ago; the atmosphere at the shop was best described as “aggressively festive” and he had no desire to continue the trend at home. But he’d thought it would be something nice to do with his boyfriend...assuming he showed up.

A loud buzz filled Finn’s apartment, notifying him he had a visitor. Finn buzzed him in, the tension that had built in his body over the past hour seeping away. A few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. “Hello?” 

Finn opened the door. Kylo stood in front of him, his dark hair and jacket dusted with a fine layer of rapidly melting snow, and a thermos in his hands. “Sorry I’m late,” he said. “The storm started earlier than I expected.”

Finn wrapped his arms around Kylo’s waist. “Hey, it’s fine,” he said, leaning up to give Kylo a quick kiss on his cheek. “What did you bring?”

Kylo returned the kiss, cool lips brushing over the warm, smooth skin of Finn’s forehead and sending a shiver through Finn’s body. “It’s just hot chocolate. I thought you might be tired of making drinks all day.”

“Hot chocolate’s just a matter of heating water, love,” Finn said. Kylo looked vaguely put out at Finn’s lack of enthusiasm, and Finn can’t help but laugh a little. “But thank you, I appreciate the thought. And I’m sure it tastes great.” Finn hooked his thumbs into Kylo’s waistband and tugged him towards the living room. Kylo follows his lead, placing his thermos on the kitchen counter as they pass by.

“You know,” Finn said, “for awhile there, I thought you weren’t coming.” He toyed with the buttons of Kylo’s jacket, pointedly not looking him in the face.

“Sorry.” Kylo pulled Finn into a loose embrace. “I was...reconsidering. This is a stressful time of year for me.”

“It’s a stressful time of year for _everybody_ ,” Finn said. “This is supposed to be relaxing.”

“There is nothing relaxing about decorating or celebrating the holidays in my experience.” There was an edge to Kylo’s voice, despite the lightness of his words, and his grip on Finn tightens. Finn wondered what nerve he had hit, when he’d invited Kylo over.  
“I understand. When I was growing up decorating the tree could be...quite the ordeal.” The holidays Finn had spent in foster had been loud, busy affairs, with overtired children being ushered from one activity or celebration to the next while being half-heartedly chaperoned by well-meaning but overworked social workers. It had left Finn with an aching desire to simply be left alone during the season. “That’s why I wanted to do this--just you,” and Finn ran a palm up Kylo’s chest, until he reached the collar of Kylo’s shirt and ran his fingers over his exposed throat, “and me, and the whole evening ahead of us.”

“That does sound appealing,” Kylo murmured, pressing his forehead against Finn’s.

“I thought you’d like it,” Finn whispered back. He kissed Kylo again, this time pressing his lips to Kylo’s and briefly gliding his tongue over them before pulling away to get the bag of decorations left on the kitchen counter. Glancing behind him, Finn tried not to laugh at the frown crossing Kylo’s face.

“We could skip the decorating part altogether,” Kylo said.

“We could,” Finn agreed, “but I already spent too much money buying these.” He pulled a sparkling red tinsel from the bag, then draped it over Kylo’s shoulders. “And now that’s it’s used, I can’t take it back.”

Kylo shrugged off the tinsel and handed it back to Finn. His lips and shoulders quiver, in a way that Finn recognized as Kylo trying to surpress a laugh. “If that’s the case, I suppose I can humor you this once.”

“You and I both know this isn’t the last time you’ll humor me,” Finn said, laughing. He walked over the tree he’d set up earlier in the day, and dumps the content of the shopping bag on the floor.

“The tree’s shorter than you are,” Kylo pointed out.

“Excuse you, I am _very comfortable_ with my height and trying to tease me about it isn’t going to get you anywhere.” Finn started sifting through the pile of decorations--a few boxes of LED lights, more tinsel garlands, and a panoply of ornaments he’d grabbed from a discount bin.

Kylo knelt next to Finn and picked out a few ornaments from the pile--a glossy pizza slice and a reindeer in a karate outfit. “These are...I guess anything can be a Christmas ornament if you can hang it on a tree.” He spun the ornaments around his fingers. “Finn, your taste in interior decorating would drive my mother crazy.”

“Oh?” Finn looked up at Kylo in surprise. This was new--Kylo never spoke about his family voluntarily; the few times Finn attempted to broach the subject had ended with Kylo quickly changing the subject. 

“She was a public representative,” Kylo said, “and she was very particular about the image she projected during the holidays. Nothing too old-fashioned, nothing too modern. Festive but not too loud…”  
“So...boring? Is that what you’re getting at?”

“Sort of,” Kylo said, frowning. “Traditional, really, but maintaining that appearance took up most of her time. It could be...hard to deal with.” Kylo’s brow furrowed, and he glared at the wall in front of him.

“Was your father the same way?” Finn asked.

Kylo shook his head. “The opposite. He didn’t care what my mother did, as long as he didn’t have to be there for it.” Kylo’s voice rose, and his fingers curl inwards, scraping along the floor. Finn reached over the ornament pile and placed his hand over Kylo’s, rubbing the pad of his thumb along Kylo’s wrist in an effort to ease the sudden tension there.

“Sounds rough, love. But this isn’t for your parents. It’s for _us._ ”

Kylo turned to face Finn, his expression softening, the slightest of smiles tugging at the edge of his mouth. “You’re right,” he said. His dark eyes never leave Finn’s face, the intensity of his gaze a sharp contrast to the rich softness of his voice. “Thank you.”

Finn’s only answer was a quiet laugh, breathed into Kylo’s mouth as he presses their lips together.

***

It didn’t take long to decorate the tree--it was pretty short--and in the end, they have more ornaments, lights, and garlands than they can fit on the tree. They end up decorating the rest of Finn’s apartment, with Finn directing Kylo on where to hang the remaining lights and tinsel. (Kylo, in an incredible show of restraint, only comments on Finn’s height _once._ ) The storm outside intensified as they worked, and by the time they finish the city outside is blanketed in a thick layer of snow.

“It’s probably not safe for you to drive home,” Finn said as he took stock of the view outside.

Kylo came up behind Finn and wrapped his arms around Finn’s waist. “I wasn’t planning on leaving tonight.” He dropped a kiss into Finn’s hair, his breath tickling over Finn’s scalp. Finn shivered at the sensation and leaned back into Kylo’s embrace.

For long moments, they stood in front of the window, neither speaking. The snowfall outsides deadened all other sound, and in that deep silence the sound of Kylo’s heartbeat was like thunder at Finn’s back. Kylo’s breath ghosted against the nape of Finn’s neck, at the shell of Finn’s ears; Kylo’s hands pressed against Finn’s abdomen with such gently increasing pressure it was almost imperceptible but for the increasing warmth in Finn’s body and the shallowing of his breaths. It felt like Finn was slowly sinking into Kylo’s presence, almost suffocating under the weight of Kylo’s attention. To Finn, who had grown up always watched but never the center of attention, the sensation was equal parts exhilarating and frightening.

Kylo brought one hand up Finn’s torso, his palm gliding over Finn’s chest and collarbone, before tilting Finn’s chin up for a kiss. Finn’s lips parted eagerly under Kylo’s, and he felt rather than heard the words _so beautiful_ whispered into his mouth.

Outside, the snow fall intensified, but neither of them took notice.

**Author's Note:**

> i am _so sorry_ for the lateness; the internet in my area went down Sunday night and didn't get restored until I was at work. :( i am also sorry that not much decorating actually happened... /o\


End file.
